Re branding Amman: a ‘lived’ city's values, image and identity

 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION 
Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005) examine the 
similarities between a city and a corporation 
and fi nd that both are comprised of diverse 
sub-identities that, if managed appropriately, 
can coexist. Cities also accommodate 
a multitude of activities by users (for example 
residential, commercial, tourism and so on). 
Accordingly, ‘ the city becomes a multitude of 
brands ’ that are planned, designed and sold to 
the various consumer segments ( Kavaratzis and 
Ashworth, 2005, p. 512 ). Yet, while Amman ’ s 
two branding exercises do not deviate from the 
need to address different consumer segments, 
their comparison contradicts Kvaratzis and 
Ashworth ’ s statement of coexistence. Indeed, 
Amman ’ s 2009 brand prioritized the affective 
perceptions of its local residents. This choice 
for the brand ’ s visual image was made against 
the option to evoke what is unique about 
Amman ’ s urban landscape (for example the 
historic theater), or its cognitive meanings (for 
example Arab-Islamic history). Our fi ndings 
suggest that because the new brand captures 
the values of local residents, it successfully 
connotes several sub-identities (or brands) for 
Amman. For example, Amman ’ s new brand 
caters to tourists seeking a destination with an 
ancient heritage ( Grissom, 2000 ), but without 
the stigma of the unchanged ( Echtner and 
Prasad, 2003 ). This new brand also caters to 
those seeking the contemporary about Amman. 
Indeed, Amman is home to most of Jordan ’ s 
61 hospitals, which place Jordan (read: Amman) 
among the world ’ s top fi ve destinations for 
medical tourism ( Malkawi, 2011 ). 
Kavaratzis ’ (2004) internal (physical attributes) 
and external (subjective perceptions) in cities 
merge in Amman ’ s 2009 brand, which becomes 
evident when we gauge it against the 2002 
branding exercise. The launching of the 2002 
brand incorporated strategies (marketing and 
promotion) and tactics (urban design, civic 
architecture and events) that sought to cater to 
external markets, particularly foreign tourists 
and investors. Conversely, the 2009 rebranding 
prioritized strategic and tactical undertakings 
that stemmed from a local perspective. Most 
importantly, contrary to research that fi nds that 
successful place branding is strongly linked 
to place-making initiatives ( Beriatos and 
Gospodini, 2004 ; Kavaratzis, 2007 ; Khirfan, 
2010 ), we propose that Amman ’ s 2009 
rebranding succeeded precisely because of 
the lack of conspicuous interventions in the 
physical fabric of the city. Amman ’ s case proves 
that it is place and its image that lie at the heart 
of place branding, whereby image is comprised 
of the physical attributes, activities and 
meanings of the place. These fi ndings confi rm 
Firat and Venkatesh’s (1993) interpretation of 
the relationship between values, product and 
image, where ‘ the image does not represent 
the product, but [ … ] the product represents 
the image ’ ( Firat and Venkatesh, 1993, p. 244
emphases original). Indeed, one of the planners 
of the Amman Institute stated ‘ I think that 
communicating with the community should be 
more visual. All psychological studies show that 
when images are more visual, less words and 
more images convey the point ’ (Focus group 
with the planners of the Amman Institute, 
12 December 2010). More recent research 
that examines the challenges planners face 

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